Rising Flames
by Aquarius12385
Summary: FF2 - Another vignette, this time from Rydia's point of view as her village burns to the ground. Angsty!


Fire. The deadly heat, the deadly orange glow that surrounded her, choked her, scorched her. The flame that enveloped her village in a matter of seconds, and with a firm fist and a tight grip slowly squeezed all the life out of Mist. It was frightening and made her shake violently, uncontrollably with fear. Just the mere sight of the orange and yellow flames licking up into the air made her skin tingle and tiny beads of sweat form on her forehead. The screams would haunt her forever, always be a part of her memory. Always be there in that remote part of her mind, ready to jump out and frighten her at the slightest stimulation. The smell of burning flesh, the fumes of scorched wood and paint. The heat attacking every part of her body, making her squirm uncomfortably and gasp for air, the fire sucking all of the precious oxygen away from her. There was nothing her eyes could see except the hazy orange and red of the fire; even the bright blue sky disappeared. It was all around her, and would always be there to remind her. It was an inner torment, one she would never forget, one she could never forget. It stayed with her forever. There was one thing she recognized out of all those flames, however, and she clutched to that one thing as if it were the only solid thing in a dizzily swaying world, the only thing that would bring her pacification. And it was. The familiar light green hair, the familiar gray eyes, the familiar soothing voice. And however it was distorted by the fire, it was still the same thing. The green hair was burnt, the gray eyes bloodshot from the smoke, the voice haggard and wheezy with the inhalation.  
  
The extreme smoke and heat brought tears to her eyes, and even though it hurt to talk, it hurt to breathe, she cried. She sobbed as hard as she could, because that one thing that kept her solid was gone. It was slowly burning away, and after it was gone, she would have nothing left. Nobody would be left. She would be dragged along by the spinning whirlwind of life, with nobody to hold on to, nobody to keep her safe. And then they had come. Yes, they had come, being the heroes of the day. The two knights in their shiny black armor had come to her rescue. But not even the dragoon and his knight friend could pull her back from the black abyss of hell she had just slipped into. Her mother was gone.  
  
They wouldn't take the hint that she wasn't going anywhere. What was the point? It wasn't like life was going to be any better anywhere else. As long as her mother was dead, life would be a living hell for her, flames and all. Because the flames would eternally haunt her, and make this inferno of her life even worse. But they took her by her arms, kicking and screaming, and dragged her through the fire and out of the city. When her paroxysm got bad enough, the knight in blue armor carried her tight to his chest. She remembered his armor being so cold despite the raging heat around her, and for a second when her madly searching eyes met his, she saw sadness and regret deep inside of them. They made her stop for a second, but then her fear and despair urged her to continue. She beat at his armor, at his helmet, kicked his legs, but he wouldn't let go. His grip was as strong as his armor and he wouldn't let go. The dragoon followed closely behind, checking the flames as quickly as possible for other survivors. Why? There was nobody left in the Village of Mist. She had screamed it at him, yelled, shrieked, but he kept checking persistently. And what had he found when they exited the city limits? Nothing but a panicky little child - nothing worth keeping. After they were safely away from the city, the knight stopped, panting slightly. The dragoon ran up beside him and pulled up his faceplate. They were in the middle of the desert, where the heat was immense, but not half as bad as the inferno they had just left. The knight with the cool armor put her down gently on the ground. Paralyzed by reality, she sat there on the sand, motionless, watching her village burn to the ground. Tears formed once again in her little green eyes. The dragoon squatted next to her, and for the first time she could see his face. Wisps of blonde hair carelessly grazed his azure eyes, and his well- chiseled features were evident even from outside his encasing of armor. His eyes, unlike that of the other knight, however, remained cautious and she could even detect impatience inside them. His unwavering glare disturbed her to sobs, and she frantically began to hiccup and lament rapidly, her whole body convulsing rapidly. The other knight spoke up, and the first thing she noticed was his voice. It was calm and soft like her mother's, and as he kneeled down next to her, she quieted for a moment to analyze him. Nearly white blonde hair was evident from outside the helmet, and his eyes were a deep, sincere brown. He spoke quietly to both her and the dragoon, and tried to calm her. Then he made his mistake. He asked the dragoon about the package. The dragoon replied in a husky voice, no, he had not known about the package's contents. And yes, he did see the Mist Dragon disappear. The name of the Mist Dragon made her stop her frantic convulsing and wailing. She stared at first the dragoon and then the knight with angry, accusing eyes. Her sea-green eyes seemed as if she could examine their souls, and she did so purposefully as to make them squirm below her gaze. Neither did so. She repeated the name of the monster, and as the dragoon nodded, she completely lost it. She sprang up in their direction so fast that they hardly had time to react. She beat at their faces through their visors, and when they finally threw her off of them, she scrambled up and began chanting and murmuring rapidly, her luminous green eyes teeming with vehemence and wrath, staring in their direction. The knight first realized what she was doing, and he started to attempt to tackle her. But he was too late, and as an angry grin flashed across her petite features, the ground shook and the giant monster emerged. The dragoon stood in complete awe at the creature that stood three times his own height, and the knight picked himself up off of the sand, rapidly crawling away. Once again, they were all too late. As she threw her hands to the sand, the monster did so as well, letting loose all of her fury and anger with his fists, leaving giant ruts in the ground and suddenly everything started shaking. The sand stirred up, and when something hit her head, Rydia went unconscious.  
  
She had woken up later and heard the calm voice of the knight calling a name. The dragoon, she assumed, before falling back into her reverie.  
  
But it was the fire that disturbed her most, now. The blaze that would not leave her alone, that repeatedly encompassed her mind. And they were asking her to use it.  
  
She wouldn't, she couldn't. The lady with the white hair, the knight in the blue armor, that whiny prince, the old mage… they could plead all they wanted. The fire wasn't coming from her. It wasn't going to happen, not at all. That ice could stay there forever for all she cared. It made no difference to her whether or not it moved. Then the prince said the stupidest thing she'd ever heard.  
  
"It'll make us all happy," he pleaded, his eyes sad and lethargic. The tears immediately stopped flowing from her eyes, and she scowled at him.  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" She hissed maliciously at him. He looked rather surprised, the spoiled brat. "It won't make us happy," she hissed again, her voice dangerously quiet. She eyed all of them. "None of us will ever be happy. You want your girlfriend back," she said, motioning to the prince, "you want your daughter back," she pointed at the mage, "you want your partner back," she gestured to the knight, "and you…" she left off at the white mage. The white mage, Rosa, smiled gently and carefully walked over to her. She knelt down and whispered in her ear. Whispered something that made Rydia pull her chin up and look resolved at the hunks of ice blocking their path. Rosa stepped out of the way, and motioning for the others to do the same, waited. Rydia began to chant wordlessly, in some bombastic language that only she understood, and the fire ate away at the ice. The fire that had possessed her for so long, so relentlessly, was finally under her control. For the first time in a long time, Rydia smiled. 


End file.
